Results from my cellphone tracking survey

["Richard M. Smith" <rms () computerbytesman com>]

Hi,

First off, thanks to everyone who participated in my cellphone tracking
survey.  

Attached are the results for Verizon and Sprint.  These are the 2 carriers
that I received sufficient replies for.  The results for Verizon are mixed,
with about 1/3 of the surveyed phones defaulting to always sending out
location information.  On the other handle, it appears that Sprint's default
policy is to always send out location information on all calls.

In my survey, all GPS-equipped phones have controls for selecting location
tracking on 911 calls only or all calls.  Many phones also have screen icons
which indicating the level of tracking that a phone is set to.  UI experts
will have to weigh in if these controls are easy to find and if the screen
icons are easy to recognize.

Some cellphone carries, like Cingular, do not use phones with GPS chips in
them.  Instead they locate the position of a cellphone by network
triangulation technology.  For a GPS-less phone, it appears that there are
no controls in a phone for turning on and off location tracking.  Instead,
the carrier makes the decision when to do tracking and when not to do
tracking.  

Richard M. Smith
http://www.ComputerBytesMan.com

==========================================================

Verizon

   E911 only     13
   Always On      8
   Unclear        5

Sprint

   E911 only      1
   Always on      8

Legend

"E911 Only": Phone defaults to sending GPS location information only on 911
emergency calls.

"Always On": Phone defaults to sending GPS location information for all
calls.

Unclear: It is not clear what the location tracking default for a phone is.
 
 
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